Posts Tagged with freedom in Christ

Welcome back to our series, “The Power of Pause”! We’ve talked about why we need to just stop and rest sometimes, what sort of things distract us, and why we need to pause even when it’s painful. Today, we have four helpful principles for you to look at alongside Scripture.

I mentioned a course I did at church by Neil T. Anderson and Steve Goss called “Freedom in Christ”. Today, I just want to share some points from the end of the participant’s guide. There were four out of eight from their “God’s Guidelines for the Walk of Faith” which spoke to me about what God wants from us regarding our time.

None of these points are my own. They come straight out of the book. I’ve just highlighted a few and added some thoughts. You can learn more about Freedom in Christ Ministries here.

Here we go! Pause with these four principles:

PRINCIPLE ONE – Significance comes from proper use of time.

“…their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of every person’s work.” – from 1 Corinthians 3:13

“…if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” – from Acts 5:33-40

“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present and the life to come.” – from 1 Timothy 4:7-8

The Bible tells us that what we do (or choose not to do) with our time is important. And not only just important – it will be tested. If the purpose of what you do is of God, then that act is powerful. No one can stop you. Because time is important, we shouldn’t waste it on things not from God – like gossip, for instance. And maybe we shouldn’t click on ridiculous celebrity new articles and videos, either. It makes me want to do good with my time, knowing that God’s good inside of his people is powerful.

PRINCIPLE TWO – Salvation comes from living a quality life.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5

“When there were no oceans, I [wisdom] was given birth… when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in humankind.” – from Proverbs 8:24-31

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. – from II Timothy 4:7-8

Wisdom defined could be said to just be delighted with God’s presence – being delight with this world, with creation – and with all the people he has made. Being delighted in how he made you and in how he made others. My best quality of life comes when I find that contentment – being with God and seeing as He sees. And great is our reward, given us by God himself, with whom we have walked intimately – who has struggled alongside us, mourned with us, and danced with us.

PRINCIPLE THREE – Fun comes from enjoying life moment by moment.

“[After dancing before the Lord, David tells a criticizing Michal,] “I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” – From II Samuel 6

“Am I now trying to win human approval or God’s approval? Or am I still trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ… It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.” – Galatians 1:10, 5:1

“So whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God, Blessed are those who do not condemn themselves by what they approve… Everything that does not come from faith is sin.” = Romans 14:22

Enjoying life, having fun, does not mean what most of the world wants us to think it means. What we see on TV or Netflix is completely different from true joy. Real “fun” comes from that joy of God’s presence – like David dancing in God’s presence without caring who saw him or how he looked. It doesn’t depend on anything or anyone aside from the creator of fun, the creator of joy and of true happiness and contentment. Once you’ve experienced that joy, clubs and meaningless relationships just don’t measure up. Dancing for God is where it’s at, ya’ll.

PRINCIPLE FOUR – Peace comes from quieting the inner storm.

“From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were hot serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.” – Jeremiah 6:14-15

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7

“The Lord’s justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness in the fertile field. The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.” – Isaiah 32:16-17

We’ve talked about all the distractions in life, and we’ve discussed that it is just plain hard to pause in the middle of all the madness. We want peace, but like in Jeremiah, there’s greed and deceit and false kindness all around. We need to find peace. Our minds are chaos. There’s fear, anxiety, depression, discontent in our minds. It really does feel like a tornado is rummaging all through the head. But Jesus promises peace. I love that last bit – “The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.”

If we chase after righteousness by using our time well – by spending time with our Saviour – I believe we can find peace and enjoy a quality life. It’s a worthwhile goal.

The act of pausing is, indeed, powerful. Often, a relieving kind of powerful, and other times not. Stopping, even for a moment sometimes, can be painful.

A few weeks ago, these “Freedom in Christ” sessions started at our church on Tuesday nights. My husband and I thought it sounded good, but he had a lot of assignments coming up so I just decided to do it and report back.

Based on the verse in Galatians and books by Neil T. Anderson, the course is meant to help Christians claim their “freedom in Christ”. This is done by focusing on scripture instead of on distractions, finding God’s promises, and believing them – letting go of hurts and lies. Basically, it gives you time and space to pause and pray and just deal. By the end, you have a toolkit of principles and scriptures to help you live in freedom.

But, the course made me stop and think about some stuff that I didn’t really want to stop and think about. And that was not a nice feeling.

Pausing can be painful. Because if we let our bodies stop, our minds might wander. And they might wander to our past. They might wander to our present. They might even go on a longer trip all the way to our future. They might take hold of worries and hurts we didn’t want to admit we had.

So… Is it worth it to stop and let yourself feel something painful?

I don’t know. I am neither a doctor nor a therapist.

I do know that pushing on a bruise doesn’t make it go away. Push too hard and it’ll even make the bruise bigger. Time is the only remedy.

But there’s something magical about Christianity. Christ was a healer.

So, I believe that if we pause and listen to what God says about us – if we claim his promises and take him at His Word – we can be content. We can be free. We don’t have to be in pain.

But for this to happen, we have to stop and take time to follow him, push through the crowd and the junk of our lives to touch the hem of his robe. He will just turn around, love us, heal us, and always be with us.

Check out “Freedom in Christ Ministries” and print out some of their free downloads. I love the “Significance, Security, & Acceptance Restored In Christ” list that they encourage you to read out loud every day for a week or a month. Most importantly, take time to pause with Jesus – no matter how painful it might be at first – because Jesus can take that pain if you claim the freedom He gives you.